Caregiver strain has been found to be a significant barrier to extended home-care of the impaired elderly and among the most important reasons for nursing home application. Further, the reported strain of caregiving is greatest in cases involving the mental impairment of the elder. Yet, we know little about the sources of this strain; information which would direct tour efforts in developing supportive services. The current research is designed to isolate the specific factors related to strain in caring for the mentally impaired elderly versus the physically impaired. A theoretical framework is employed which posits two main sources of strain in home-care: (a) task overload, and (b) insufficient caregiver gratification. It is hypothesized that while both processes are active in causing caregiver strain, the second - insufficient gratification - is of overriding importance in caring for the mentally impaired elderly. Forty pairs of disabled elders and their adult child caregivers will be recruited for the study. The sample of elders will be selected in order to create two discrete groups of twenty with the following characteristics: (a) a group of elders with moderate to severe cognitive impairment but relative independence in self-care and activities of daily living, and (b) a group of elders with severe functional impairments but absence of cognitive impairment. Caregivers and elders will be interviewed and assessed in their homes and a hierarchical multiple regression technique will be employed to test the primacy of each factor in each group as a predictor of caregiver strain. Further comparisons between the groups will relate to the pattern and composition of the house-hold day as measured by a three-day home-care diary. Support for the hypotheses as well as other information from the study will have implications for the delivery of supportive services to those involved in providing home-care. Results of the study will also have direct bearing on the types of training received by home-care manpower.